One
of the first reviews I wrote was for the inaugural
release of
Meyer Family Vineyards'
wines. I now have the pleasure of being presented
with the latest, soon-to-be, release of their 2008
Chardonnay and 2 Pinot Noirs. For those unfamilar
with the Meyer Family Vineyards, they are located
on the
Naramata Bench in the Okanagan.
They produce a small number of cases of high quality
wine each year.
Their approach to wine making is to handle the fruit
gently with minimal intervention to help show the
terroir of the site and to showcase the growing season
of each vintage. The 2008 season was quite variable.
It was a variable year with blocks of hot and cold
weather mixed together. The critical ripening period
from mid-August to mid-October had excellent weather
with warm days and cool nights allowing the fruit
flavours to develop and to keep the level of acidity
up to prevent flabbiness.
The
Tribute Series Chardonnay 2008, Old Main
Road Vineyard, recognizes a Western Canadian
for outstanding achievement in their field. This year
they paid tribute to
Steve Yzerman,
who is a member of the
Hockey Hall of Fame,
is a 3 time Stanley Cup winner, Olympic Gold medalist,
and much more. This vintage is medium lemony gold
in colour. Medium intensity nose with citrus, tropical
and dried fruit, butter, yeast, vanilla and butter
aromas. It is dry with medium acidity and medium plus
body. Flavours are citrus, dried fruit, pear, yeast,
oak, vanilla and butter. It has a medium length with
a green apple finish. Quite elegant.
I went to the wine maker's tasting notes to see if
there was anything I missed, or to confirm things
I tasted. I did note that there was some yeasty aroma
and flavour, and I read that the wine went through
a partial malo-lactic fermentation and aged ten months
sur lees without battonage. The lees
(dead yeast cells) add additional complexity to the
wine.
As this wine was recently bottled, I thought I'd let
the wine breathe for a few days and retaste it to
see if there are any changes in aroma and flavour.
I was very happy to see that my second tasting notes
match my first tasting notes. The wine appears to
be quite happy as it is, but I am sure over time it
will age gracefully.
I was very pleased to taste the two Pinot Noirs, as
I have a soft spot for this varietal. The
Meyer
Family Vineyards Pinot Noir, 2008, McLean Creek Road
Vineyard, is medium ruby in the glass. Quite
youthful nose. Medium intentisty showing red fruit,
red cherry, plum strawberries, some floweriness, and
vanilla. Medium acidity and tannins, with flavours
again of red fruit, red cherry, strawberries, and
oak. It is very "feminine" in style, and
I think will become more silky as the tannins mellow
a bit. Overall a very nice wine. I also tasted this
wine and the other Pinot Noir after a few days exposure
to air (the wines did have a cork in the bottle to
prevent anything from falling into the wine spoiling
them) and am pleased to note, that my notes for the
pinots also matched my first tasting notes.
The
Meyer Family Vineyards Pinot Noir 2008,
Central Okanagan Vineyard is the favourite
of the two Pinot Noirs. It is made in a bit more of
a masculine style, offering a bit more backbone compared
to the
McLean Creek Road Vineyard
Pinot Noir. The Central Okanagan Vineyard Pinot Noir
was deep ruby coloured. Medium intensity in aroma
in the glass with strawberry, violets, cloves and
other sweet spices, vanilla and oak. It has medium
plus tannins, body and intensity on the palate. There
were flavours of red fruit, red cherry, strawberry,
oak and some floweriness. The tannins were quite firm
and drying. With time this wine will reward you with
great drinking pleasure.
I hope you have a chance to try the wines from the
Meyer Family Vineyards. Their website is
www.MFVwines.com.
